Should New Hampshire start a vaccine passport program?

Such a program could require proof of a Covid-19 vaccine for travel, eating indoors at a restaurant, attending theater or other public events. New York has gone in that direction already with its “Excelsior Pass,” which provides “digital proof” of vaccination. It’s not a state law, but it enables the possibility that sports and entertainment events will require vaccination proof.

There is no legislation in New Hampshire yet, according to state Sen. Tom Sherman, a Rye Democrat who is a gastroenterologist for Core Physicians in Exeter and Portsmouth.

“A great deal of thought needs to be put into this issue,” said Sherman. “Benefits would include encouraging vaccination, improved public health, and an ability to fully reopen our businesses and other venues to those who have documentation of vaccination. But concerns have been raised that need to be considered and addressed, including forgery and the civil rights of those who refuse to or cannot receive vaccination.”

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has said he isn’t in favor of a state passport program, telling the Washington Post, “at the end of the day, it is an individual’s choice” to get a vaccine.

Sununu went on to say it’s possible private businesses may be able to place restrictions on employees and possibly customers. He also predicted a requirement would receive “pushback” from everybody, not just one political party or the other.

According to Dr. Evangeline Thibodeau, an infectious disease specialist at York Hospital in Maine, “there are requirements for protection against yellow fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Applying the same concept to a public heath effort here is interesting. It could help to minimize the risk of exposure to airlines. Businesses might be looking at this as a way to make their customers feel more secure.”

But Dr. Marissa Fernandez-Kiemele, a Core primary care physician in Hampton, warned about the potential she sees for fraud.

“I think it would not be very hard to reproduce those cards, and who will know if they are real or not?” she asked. “New Hampshire has no vaccine registry, so how would anyone verify this without some form of an electronic system?” Fernandez-Kiemele said she understands the idea of a vaccination passport would be to make people feel more secure as they begin to move about more. More important, she said, is to educate people who are hesitant about the vaccine.

“We would be better served to put our resources into that,” she said. “It is important to get that buy-in from people who haven’t yet gotten the vaccine. We have an attitude problem among many people regarding vaccines. There is plenty of information about the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. The more people we get vaccinated, the closer we will move toward herd immunity, the closer we will get to ending this pandemic.” — KAREN

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